A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains or may contain material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the photocopy reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure in exactly the form it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention relates in general to a gaming device, and more particularly to a gaming device having player selectable bonus awards and a method to optimize a player""s award.
Gaming devices currently exist with bonus rounds in which a player has one or more opportunities to choose masked bonus awards from a pattern of masked awards displayed to the player. When the player chooses a masked award from the pattern, the game removes the mask and either awards the player with a bonus value or terminates the bonus round with a bonus terminator. The outcome depends upon whether the player selects an award or a terminator.
In the above game, the controller of the gaming device randomly places a predetermined number of masked awards and terminators in the pattern at the beginning of the bonus round and maintains the positioning until the bonus round terminates. When the player selects a masked award, the player receives the value of the award, and the game typically displays a message that the player may continue and enables the player to select another masked award. The player then selects another masked award, and the process continues until the player selects a masked terminator. European Patent Application No. EP 0 945 837 A2 filed on Mar. 18, 1999 and assigned on its face to WMS Gaming, Inc. discloses a bonus round of this type.
Gaming machines also currently exist with bonus rounds in which the game selects or determines the player""s award. PCT application PCT/AU97/00121 entitled, Slot Machine Game with Roaming Wild Card, having a publication date of Sep. 4, 1997, discloses an example. In this invention, a slot machine having a video display contains a plurality of rotatable reels with game symbols. When the player receives a triggering symbol or combination, the game produces a bonus symbol. The bonus symbol moves from game symbol to game symbol temporarily changing the game symbol to a bonus symbol. If the change results in a winning combination, the player receives an award.
In the first known game, the xe2x80x9cgo-untilxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cdo-untilxe2x80x9d bonus round can end quite quickly if the player selects a bonus terminator early in the bonus round. A prior selection does not affect the current selection except to the extent that one less selection exists. The player blindly selects masked symbols until selecting the bonus terminator, which is immediately displayed. The player""s involvement in the bonus round is thus limited. The player has no opportunity to undo or redo an undesired pick. The player has no opportunity to optimize or maximize the bonus round award. In the second known game, the game completely determines the bonus round award, and the player has no affect on the outcome.
Bonus rounds provide gaming manufacturers with the opportunity to add enjoyment and excitement to that which is already expected from a base game of the gaming device. Excitement and enjoyment increases when the interaction level between the bonus round and the player increases, and also when the bonus round remains compelling for an extended period of time. It is therefore desirable to create a bonus round in which a current selection relates to or impacts a later selection. It is also desirable to provide a bonus round that remains compelling for an extended period of time even if the player does not ultimately fare well in the bonus round. Finally, a bonus round can increase excitement and enjoyment by providing a player an opportunity to optimize a bonus round award.
The gaming device of the present invention includes a bonus round that provides a player with an opportunity to maximize a gaming device award. The present invention presents the player with a display having a plurality of groups of masked awards. The groups each preferably contain the same awards, e.g., a 10 credit, a 20 credit, a 50 credit and a 100 credit award. The game preferably enables the player to choose a masked award from each of the groups. The game then provides the player with one or more opportunities to upgrade the total award.
The display preferably contains a touch screen that enables the player to simply touch a masked award. The game preferably does not reveal a selected award, but does provide an indication that the award has been selected. For example, the game can change the initial mask or indicia of selected symbols to a particular color. If the player deselects the previously selected award, the game preferably changes the color back to the initial mask or indicia. Alternatively, the game can highlight and unhighlight selected and deselected awards, respectively. The present invention also provides one or more optimization aids, which enable a player to maximize or optimize the player""s award.
In one optimization embodiment, the player upgrades the total award having only a total award indicator, which displays the accumulation of one or more awards selected from each group, to guide the player. When the player selects a different masked award from a group, the game deselects the previously selected masked award from that group and updates the player""s total. If the total is less, the player can reselect (if another selection remains) the previous award. The game preferably provides an odd number of opportunities to change, and most preferably three opportunities, so that the player must decide if the final opportunity is worth the risk of losing awards. The player may otherwise collect the current award at any time by selecting a suitable collection selector.
In another optimization embodiment, the game provides an indication of the possible awards. For example, the game can display that a 10 credit, a 20 credit, a 50 credit and a 100 credit are each available. This information enables the player to know how close the current award is to a maximum. This information is useful especially when the player has to decide whether to use a final chance to upgrade and does not have another chance to undo an undesirable selection.
In a further optimization embodiment, the game provides an indication of the possible awards and the number of each that the player has selected, which further enables the player to know how close the current award is to a maximum. The embodiment provides a breakdown of the awards selected by the player, which the player could determine knowing only the possible awards. The breakdown precludes the player from having to perform mathematical functions to properly play the bonus round and promotes expeditious play.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a gaming device, wherein the game enables the player to have one or more opportunities to optimize a gaming device award.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed disclosure, taken in conjunction with the accompanying sheets of drawings, wherein like numerals refer to like parts, elements, components, steps and processes.